"Good afternoon, Mr. Filch,"Wadesaid. "As you can see, we have not violated any school rules."
Everyone looked at him.
Good students could lie as convincingly as anyone.
If Filch had seen the mud pit from before, he would have been furious enough to giveWadea semester's detention, right?
Of course, in front of Filch, none of them exposed Wade.
Wade was the only student who would proactively greet Filch and didn't show him disdain or disgust.
Although Filch's paranoia always made him suspicious, wondering, for instance, ifWadewas trying to make him drop his guard before doing something bad, seeingWadestill somewhat softened his attitude.
The caretaker snorted, "It had better be."
He beckoned to his cat, and Mrs. Norris darted out from the corner. The equally scrawny pair, one human and one feline, continued their patrol down the corridor.
Not long after, everyone heard Filch's shouts: "Stop right there, Ward! Defiling the castle, making a mess everywhere! I'm going to teach you a lesson…"
"I can't believe he just let us off," George said incredulously.
"Let's go!" Percy said, suppressing his temper. "I'd like to hear what grand excuses you can come up with! Bullying a rat… you two are getting more and more ridiculous!"
"Wade and Hermione were with us too!" Fred argued. "Do they look like people who'd bully a rat?"
This was also why Percy was willing to patiently go with them; otherwise, the twins' credibility with Percy would have been long in the negative, and he wouldn't have listened to anything they said, going straight to the professors to complain.
But Percy wouldn't say that. He lectured with a stern face, "Mr. Gray, Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, I think you should spend more time on your studies rather than messing around with certain people!"
The twins huffed in exasperation, trying to murder him with their eyes.
Ron whispered to Harry, "What in the world is going on?"
Harry shook his head. "I was just called over by Wade, I don't know anything either."
"I think only Fred and George are in cahoots with Wade," Ron said, frowning. "But what could my Scabbers possibly have to do with them?"
"Yeah…" Harry echoed, puzzled. "He's just a rat, isn't he?"
"This is not a simple rat."
Once inside the Umbrella House,Wadelooked at the twins and said, "Actually, we suspect he's an Animagus."
"An Animagus?"
Ron, of course, knew what an Animagus was; Professor McGonagall had just explained it in class a few days ago.
He scoffed, "That's absurd, Scabbers has been with our family for eleven years, and you're saying he's an Animagus?"
He paused, then asked seriously, "Are you two out of your minds?"
Harry didn't speak, but he also found Wade's claim preposterous.
Percy frowned at the Weasley twins. "Is this your new prank? Are you foolingWadewith such a lie, and making fools of all of us?"
Wade wasn't a Gryffindor student; he hadn't even met Scabbers. How could he come up with such an absurd idea?
In Percy's opinion, his brothers must have used some method to trick him.
Percy was beyond furious. He said angrily, "Just you wait! I'll definitely tell Mum everything!"
Fred rolled his eyes, and George explained, "We have evidence!"
"What evidence?" Percy pressed.
George: "…"
He knew his brother well. If Percy found out about the Marauder's Map, he would definitely confiscate it and hand it over to a professor.
This was something George absolutely did not want to see.
George looked at Fred and Wade.
Fred said in a low voice, "He's been with our family for eleven years, Percy. No rat lives that long."
"Is that all?" Percy said, waving his arm. "Do you think you're the only clever one? Do you think Mum and Dad haven't thought of that? We give him strengthening potions every year; potions extended his life!"
"But those are just ordinary strengthening potions, not the Elixir of Life!" Fred said in an even louder voice. "We kept saying he was about to die of old age, but he still eats just as much, with no signs of aging at all!"
"That's because… I've been taking very good care of him!" Ron shouted. "You just don't understand! Scabbers is a good rat!"
"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Fred was angry too. He said, "We're not making trouble for no reason. This rat has a name…"
"Yeah, his name's Scabbers," Ron said sarcastically.
"No!" Fred said. "His name is Peter Pettigrew!"
Percy froze for a moment, then his face went white. "What did you say?"
Wade waved his hand, cutting off the brothers' argument.
"Arguing is pointless. The facts will prove everything."
He waved his wand, and the doors and windows of the Umbrella House slammed shut and locked, leaving not even a crack.
ThenWadetook out the jar and poured the unconscious rat out.
"Scabbers!"
Ron tried to retrieve his rat, but Percy grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Percy?" Ron said.
"Wait," Percy said, sounding breathless. "Why do you think… he has that name?"
Fred didn't speak.
He was annoyed, realizing he might have exposed the Marauder's Map.
"Homenum Revelio."Wadepointed his wand at the rat and explained to everyone, "If he's an Animagus, this spell will reveal his true form. If he's just a rat, then nothing will happen."
"I'm telling you…" Ron said, frowning. "You taking this joke seriously is truly ridiculous…"
He couldn't continue, his face slowly turning pale.
The tip of Wade's wand emitted a bluish-white light, and the unconscious Scabbers suddenly woke up. It struggled and shrieked, its body twisting bizarrely.
Hermione gasped, covering her mouth in horror.
Suddenly, a head emerged, then hands and feet, and then a torso…
A short, fat man replaced Scabbers, lying on the floor, gasping for breath.
Bald, with thinning hair, dirty, and remarkably rat-like features, including a pointed nose and small, watery eyes.
"Is that Scabbers?" Ron moaned. "Or did you turn Scabbers into a person?"
"This is impossible!" Percy said, disbelievingly. "Peter Pettigrew… isn't he dead? Killed by Sirius Black many years ago!"
As he spoke, he looked at Harry.
Harry looked back at him, bewildered.
"Petrificus Totalus! Incarcerous!"
Wade gave Peter Pettigrew no chance to argue, immediately casting two more spells. The man was bound rigidly to the floor, unable to move.
"Do you believe it now?"Wadesaid. "This is what we wanted to tell you."